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Sharlene Leurig, Water Program Director at Ceres, joins The Water Values Podcast this week to discuss the impact of climate change on water. Sharlene takes us on economy-wide tour of water’s impact on climate change from its impact on Toyota’s operations and shipping to utility-side impacts such as the implementation of green infrastructure. Sharlene also addresses how cities are using innovative green infrastructure programs like the San Francisco Public Utility Commission’s recycled water use in its building and Philadelphia’s use of green infrastructure. She also addresses some of the challenges of funding the investments needed to cope with our infrastructure needs, from rating agencies issues to government-imposed limits in debt instruments, like bonds. Tune in for a great discussion about how climate change is impacting water and how water utilities are adapting.
In this session, you’ll learn about:
- Ceres’ work on climate change and water scarcity
- The impact of climate change on the hydrologic cycle
- How companies are adapting to climate change and water scarcity issues
- How one insurance company reacted to flooding in one of its utility clients’ service areas
- How climate change is impacting utilities’ infrastructure choices
- How Philadelphia re-negotiated its Consent Decree with EPA from a $6 Billion grey infrastructure plan to a $2 Billion infrastructure plan split between both grey and green infrastructure
- How Los Angeles and San Francisco have innovated in using green infrastructure
- Why we’re seeing an “awakening” across the U.S. of realizing that cities are themselves watersheds
- Why Sharlene thinks that in 10 years, it will be hard to define the differences between water, energy and waste infrastructure
- Where the money to fund water infrastructure might come from
- How credit rating agencies have responded to climate change and climate risk
Resources and links mentioned in or relevant to this session include:
- Ceres website
- Sharlene’s Twitter handle: @sleurig
- Bloomberg article on Thailand flooding affecting Toyota (and Apple) supply chain
- Washington Post article on the Farmers Insurance lawsuit against Chicago
- Philadelphia’s press release on its renegotiation of its long-term control plan to alleviate storm water problems
- San Francisco PUC’s building implementing significant water efficiencies (and more)
- George Hawkins’ blog article on its “Century Bond” issuance
- Environmental Finance Advisory Board’s Utilizing SRF for Green Infrastructure Projects report to EPA
- The Bond Buyer article on credit ratings agencies beginning to factor climate change as a risk
Transcript
Click here to download the Transcript for Session 51 of The Water Values Podcast.
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